20 Of The Most Powerful Photos You’ll Ever See

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

One photo can suspend for eternity the depth of human emotions we feel. Whether we experience joy, sadness, pain, horror or fear, a simple click of the shutter can record that feeling forever. When you look through these photos, put yourself in the shoes of those being photographed and imagine what they felt.

2. The Last Jew in Vinnitsa

September 1941. Ukraine. The Nazis shot every Jewish person in the city within 5 days and 750,000 overall during the war.

3. Hubble eXtreme Deep Field Image

It took 10 years and 2 million seconds of exposure time for this image. It represents the deepest image of the universe we have. We can see over 5500 galaxies, some 100 million years after the Big Bang.

4. Family Photo Seconds before Assassination

Filipino district councilor Reynaldo Dagsa took this New Year’s Day photo of his family. Right then, a gunman appears in the left corner, pulls out a gun and assassinates Dagsa. The gunman purportedly had a disagreement over Dagsa’s policies in the area.

5. Monk Prays for Dead Man

At Taiyuan train station in Northern China, a dead man lay slumped on a bench. All the commuters ignore him until a Buddhist monk comes along and begins to pray for the man. The image went viral and shocked the nation. It made people question if their society was suffering from ‘collective apathy’.

8. Girl Cries after Tsunami

Toshiyuki Tsunenari photographed this girl crying two days after a devastating tsunami demolished the city of Natori in the Miyagi prefecture in Japan. Only days before, this farming town of 74,000 enjoyed a peaceful life. The tsunami destroyed most of the town.

9. “Poverty is the worst form of violence”

The above quote came from Gandhi, and it quite aptly summarizes this photo. Collin Rodefer shoots two coffee shop goers who wave happily to the camera, oblivious (or ignoring) the homeless man inches away from their feet.

10. Grief Over Young Crash Victim

Emotion overcomes this Lithuanian driver who accidentally hit and killed an 8 year old child.

11. Man on Bridge Calls Suicide Hotline

Over 1600 people have committed suicide since the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937. In this photo, an anonymous man places call to the suicide hotline from a phone located on the bridge. His ultimate fate is unknown.

12. Nazi Rally at Nuremberg, 1937

The Nazis held their annual Nuremberg rally from 1923 to 1938. These gatherings functioned as propaganda rallies to spread the Nazi doctrine. Hitler approved Albert Speer’s Cathedral of Lights to light up the rallies. One hundred thirty anti-aircraft searchlights beamed upwards creating impressive vertical bars of lights.

13. Neil Armstrong Moments after His Moonwalk

Fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin took this photo of Neil Armstrong moments after he took man’s first steps ever on the moon. The tears in his eyes show just what a momentous occasion had occurred. Armstrong summed up the mission to the moon with these words:

The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited.

14. Sunset on Mars

15. Deadvlei Dunes in Namib Desert

Dead acacia trees in the Namib Desert rise from the dunes. The Tsauchab River fed this area before it dried up. Now these over 1000 year old trees dot the landscape of the Deadvlei dunes. The climate has become too dry for the trees to even decompose.

16. Jewish Prisoners Moments after Their Rescue

April 30, 1945. Major Clarence Benjamin of the 743rd Tank Battalion comes upon a train full of Jewish and Finnish prisoners. Those guarding the train evidently ran away moments before the Major’s arrival, as no firefight was reported. Major Benjamin took this photo of a Jewish woman moments after she realizes that she has been saved. The look on her face reveals tremendous relief and gratitude, and the knowledge that she and her child had just been rescued moments from death.

17. Forever Alone: Astronaut Michael Collins

The only human, living or dead, not contained in this picture of Earth is the photographer, Michael Collins. Collins took this picture from space and captured all of Earth’s inhabitants except for one person. Michael Collins.

18. Teasing Starving Children with Food

German soldier, Armin Wegner, captures this cruel scene of a Turkish government official teasing starving Armenian children with a piece of food. It took place during the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Wegner’s images of the Armenian Genocide unofficially serve as the best witnesses to the atrocities of this time.

19. Last Images of Turbine Engineers Caught in Fire

Two engineers conducting routine maintenance on a wind turbine in the Netherlands suddenly found themselves trapped in a fire. A short circuit led to the fire that engulfed their escape route. One engineer leaped off the turbine, ultimately falling to his death. Firefighters found the other engineer deceased and trapped inside the turbine.